


A Day at the Zoo

by virdant



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mostly Gen, Post-Season 4, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 16:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18594685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virdant/pseuds/virdant
Summary: Rebecca and Nathaniel go to the San Diego Zoo.





	A Day at the Zoo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anthropologicalhands](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropologicalhands/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Ellie. Bet you weren't expecting this!

It’s a two-hour drive from West Covina to the San Diego Zoo. More with traffic. Not that there’ll be any traffic today—today was for the zoo, after all. More importantly, it's for the San Diego Zoo—the best zoo in the world.

Rebecca hurls herself out of bed with single-minded focus for coffee. It is, after all, obscenely early in a bid to avoid traffic, but owning a pretzel store hasput her into the right mindset for early mornings. Coffee first, and then a quick check of the bags, and finally one more consult of Waze to determine the best route that would avoid the beast that was Los Angeles traffic.

She strides into her kitchen, straight into Nathaniel, offering her a mug of coffee.

She swallows her first gulp. “I didn’t expect you to be awake yet.”

“We have to leave early to beat traffic,” he says with pragmatic experience and no small amount of enthusiasm.

“Alright!” She downs her coffee. “Then let’s get this show on the road.”

The sky is still dark when they start, graying at the edges with sunrise. Nathaniel drives, Rebecca fiddling with the radio. They hop through a dozen stations before merging onto the 5 as the sky begins to pink, and Rebecca finally digs out the old iPod and puts on a playlist of musical theatre songs. They spend an hour harmonizing and coming up with new lyrics. Rebecca rewrites the lyrics to “I’m the Bride of the Pirate King”—this time she leaves her abusive husband—and Nathaniel still remembers Rebecca’s lyrics to "Etta Mae’s Lament". They sit and sing, sun rising on their left, ocean at their right, as Nathaniel’s tenor makes its way across the revised lines, eyes meeting in furtive glances away from the road.

The sun’s fully risen by the time they pull into the zoo’s parking lot. The main entrance is closed, but a secret handshake with a security guard later (Miguel, who works in the mornings), they’re in. The stores are closed, but the animals are waking up, the occasional zookeeper waving familiarly at Nathaniel as they pass by. Nathaniel introduces all of the animals, leaning on the fence. Rebecca presses against his side, the morning air brisk and cold despite the approaching summer. They pass through the aviary, birds chattering eagerly, along Treetops Way and the Hippo Trail.

The zoo’s opened and people are beginning to trickle in when they reach the cheetahs, placid yet eager for food. There’s a dog resting nearby, lying on his paws peacefully. 

“The cheetahs get anxiety,” Rebecca reads from the plaque on the fence. So they got them therapy dogs. The dogs keep the cheetahs company, and the cheetahs don’t have as much anxiety.

Nathaniel takes her hand.

“Even cheetahs can do with some therapy.”

“Gotta do the work,” Nathaniel replies, and whether he’s referring to Rebecca or himself, Rebecca isn’t sure.

Rebecca hums in reply. She leans against the fence, just watching the big cats, personality too big for their skin, and the dogs nearby reminding them of simple joys. Around them, the zoo rustles with the hustle and bustle of early morning visitors trying to get their fill. There’s a story lingering, a song waiting to be sung, a promise lingering in the future.

She swallows it down—not to hide it, but just to keep safe, to consider and ponder and nurture. She’ll tell Nathaniel about it soon enough. She has nothing to hide from him. She has nothing to hide from herself.

Hand in hand, they continue: through Elephant Odyssey and the Northern Frontier. Down Panda Trek and through Panda Canyon. Past the twisting and winding paths of Africa Rocks and pausing at each enclosure in the Urban Jungle. Step by step, journey after journey, the two of them with their hearts full of song, a world waiting for them.

And when they finish exploring the zoo, they go to the aquarium.

**Author's Note:**

> characterization is very roughly driven from 1) watching every single ceg music video on youtube 2) listening to ellie talk about ceg and rebecca/nathaniel 3) many many gifsets and meta analyses that i've read despite the fact that i have watched a grand total of zero episodes. thanks for letting me play, fandom!
> 
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